


Holding Back

by fuzipenguin



Category: The Losers (2010)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Post-Movie(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 16:22:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3417419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuzipenguin/pseuds/fuzipenguin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It goes against every instinct Cougar has, but he doesn't pull the trigger on Aisha. Not yet anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Holding Back

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted at my livejournal on 12/27/10.

                Clay catches up with him after Cougar has sutured Jensen’s gunshot wound back closed and better addressed Pooch’s legs. The colonel not so subtly informs the sniper that Aisha is a huge asset to the team, and they still need her.

                Cougar nods and stares back at Clay, eyes placidly blank. Inwardly, however, he pictures her head exploding into bloody brain matter as one of his bullets find its target. Clay gazes at him for several long moments, but out of all of them, Jensen is the only one who can read the blankness for what it truly means, and the colonel nods, seemingly satisfied. He pats his sniper on the shoulder, tells him to get some rest, and leaves him be.

                Cougar returns to the impromptu sick ward and peeks in on his patients.

                Pooch is knocked out on the good drugs, his wedding ring clutched tight in one fist. Jensen is sitting up, laptop light reflecting back off his glasses. He looks up as Cougar crosses the threshold of the room and grins.

                “Dude! YouTube’s got some awesome videos on the port explosions!” the hacker exclaims. Cougar passes by him to place his rifle down on the makeshift table composed of a few overturned milkcrates and some plywood. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees smoke and shaky video footage on the computer screen and some part of him relaxes a fraction at the soothing hum of Jensen’s chatter.

                Cougar’s nearly done cleaning his rifle when he feels Jensen tense. The flow of the words doesn’t stop, but Jensen’s wariness is palpable even from halfway across the room.  

                The sniper’s handgun is loose in its holster by the time Aisha is fully in the room. Cougar peers up at her beneath the brim of his hat, hands methodically smoothing an oil rag down the barrel of his SR-25.

                She pauses a few feet away, glancing at Pooch before focusing on Jensen, eyes flickering briefly over Cougar. Jensen greets her without a pause, throwing out his normal quips and jokes, and she rolls her eyes. Aisha hasn’t been around long enough to know what Jensen’s fast paced words cover, what the hand gestures hide.

                Cougar knows. He stands and leisurely makes his way over to Pooch, checking the man’s bandages and moving himself several feet closer to Jensen’s side in the process. Cougar watches sidelong as Aisha attempts to hand over a plate of sandwiches, obviously irritated with Jensen’s babble.

                Cougar intercepts with a smooth motion, setting the plate down by Jensen’s side and straightening, now squarely between Aisha and Jensen.  Aisha eyes the sniper before slowly bending to place the jug of water she had been carrying in her other hand at their feet.

                She is better at reading him than Clay is, which earns some respect. But not enough. Aisha’s hands are loose out to her sides, nonthreatening and when she smiles, it is smooth and white against her pretty, dark skin.

                “You still need me,” she remarks, a smug air about her.

                Cougar cocks his head to the side by a fraction of an inch, and his opposite shoulder raises and lowers. _That’s debatable_.

                He can feel Jensen’s stillness behind him, the air suddenly taut with silence. Cougar is deceptively loose as he stares Aisha down, challenge clear in his eyes. _Do it. Give me a reason_.

                She blinks coyly and begins stepping backwards, stretching the tension thinner, but never allowing it to break . “I’ll play nice if you will,” Aisha says softly. She holds the sniper’ gaze until she disappears around the frame of the doorway. Cougar remains standing, staring, unmoving until Jensen rocks forward on his chair.

                “Cougs?”

                The sniper looks down at Jensen, and Cougar’s eyes flit over the hacker’s face to his wounded shoulder and back again. Jensen huffs a small laugh.

                “You’re so cute when you’re defending my virtue,” he mocks. “Come on, relax. She’s not gonna kill me. Any of us. Not until she gets what she wants. Which won’t be any time soon.”

                 Cougar knows the truth in that statement. But he still tosses the plate of food away despite Jensen’s whine and moves his chair just a little closer when he sits back down.

 

~End


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